Moving Companies in Louisiana

Moving Companies in Louisiana

Nowadays, moving from place to place or state to state is no longer a problem anymore. There are thousands of moving companies around the country. Small or medium local moving companies are working on individual and household moves in their city and surrounding areas, while big and statewide moving companies (United Moving Co., North American Van Lines, etc.) are dealing with big and long-distance moves. Most big moving companies have professionally operated and had years of seniority in this industry; therefore, whenever you book a move with big companies, you have to make sure that your move is big enough as well as a big amount of money upfront. Of course, what you pay is what you receive, so all the services delivered by those well-known companies are quality and trustworthy. Claims or damages will be certainly handled responsibly. However, a billionaire might not want to pick up $100 bill on the ground because there is somebody out there might really need that money. Thus, not all of big moving companies is interested in picking up small moves. They usually give them to their franchisees or pass those moves to smaller moving companies or their subcontractors. It is important to know if there are any agreements or contracts between them. That part will never be shown to you even upon request. Unbranded and small moving companies can take advantage of this flaw to scam customers by stating their cooperation with nationwide moving companies. For the money, people scam each other every day. Indeed, insurance scams, trade scams, or even IRS scams are cheating on people every single minute, and moving service scam is one of them. The two common ways that scammers usually conduct are using the internet and telephone. Counterfeiting invoice from trustworthy sites such as Paypal or well-known moving companies’ website and requesting customers to send payment via MoneyGram, Western Union have been used widely because of the internet boom. Customers do not only lose money but also lose identities as well. In order to avoid those scams, customers must directly book service through companies’ website or make a check-up call during the business hour for companies’ existence.

Moving Companies Selection (Backgrounds, Logos, Uniforms)

There are a few things that every customer needs to look at before booking a move. It likes scanning a product before deciding to purchase it so as to guarantee consistency in quality, price, and the authentication. The first look of a tangible product may cause attraction, but the first look for an intangible product (service) will gain trust. Therefore, we recommend all customers do exactly the same process when you search for a moving company. First of all, we simply run a background check of that moving company with by swinging by their physical office, making inquiry calls and quote calls, checking the company licenses, US DOT (United State Department of Transportation) number, MC (Motor Carrier) number. Next, reliable moving companies always show their professionalism and reputation carried by each individual workers in the companies. The company logo is more than a normal picture. It is the picture with implicit meaning. It abbreviates the company’s statement and promising quality. Therefore, an exhibition of logos on moving trucks, equipment, office panels, office accessories, and billboards are very important because it is showing the care of the owners who are managing the company as well as the workers working for the company. The last thing that showing reliability is the logoed uniform. It does not only show the discipline but also the solidarity among workers. Moreover, logoed uniform makes the whole team look nice and ordered. A worker in uniform carries the company’s responsibility and a mission statement to fulfill. All of these points make a moving company to be an expert in moving service and to become successful in the future.

Whenever we get over the selection stage, we should have chosen one or more than one qualified moving companies. The next part is digging deep down into the actual operation through direct contact with companies via email, phone call, or face-to-face meeting. Requesting a quote is a must, and it must be as detailed as possible. Unprofessional moving companies try to give a general quote or a very low price quote in order to lure the customers. Because most of the customers never read the moving contract/agreement and do believe in sale personnel’s oral consultations or contract summary, many customers are entrapped when their contracts are signed. In fact, the common rule is that low price services always comes with hidden fees. Car rental is a typical example; the advertised price on the website or brochure is usually very low, but there are always a few fees showing up on the receipts that we have never heard prior signing the contract, such as, airport surcharges, insurance, gasoline charges, age penalties, parking surcharges, etc. The same pattern applied to moving services, bad moving companies are trying to get money out of customers’ pocket as much as they can, and so hidden fees are ubiquitous. There are some hidden fees, cost, and surcharges that all customers must be aware of:

This service is a part of what a full moving service contains. However, it must be verified whenever customers demand a full service. Some companies include the packing service, and supplies are estimated, but customers might end up with extra moving fees for the additional boxes or maybe extra time for disassembly bulky items before packing them. Those are hidden fees, and they are applied all the time because of theirs rationality. Therefore, customers should read the contract carefully even it is in fine print in order to make sure all the fees are revealed, or at least being aware of those fees before signing contracts.

A proper moving company must be insured and bonded; therefore, customers’ belongings are insured during the move. However, the agreement of reimbursement of damaged or missing items is totally different. The basic coverage for this situation ranged from $0.4 to $0.6 per pounds. For full value protection, the customers must pay optional insurance fee. How unfair if they only pay $20 for a piece of antique, which worth a thousand. That is the reason why customers should declare and mention high-value items as an additional insurance article in the contract.

3. Handling bulky items

On a moving day, an additional fee may be applied to heavy or oversized items. This is exactly a hidden fee, which you should be informed in advance. Some moving companies separate normal items and special items, such as pianos, pool tables, Jacuzzi bathtubs, motorcycles, playgrounds, lawn mowers, or anything consuming a lot of space in the moving truck. These special items will skyrocket the moving bill. For example, the grand piano move is from $250 to $500 depending how big it is, and how difficult to access the drop-off location. The customer could also be charged for flying oversized items upstairs. Literally, it is important to make a list of special care items that needed to be move, and the declare price in the contract are final.

4. Long distance carry fees

Not all houses or apartments have an ideal parking spot for a big moving truck, so whenever the moving truck can’t park next to or in a certain distance from the pick-up or drop-off location. There is a very high chance that customers will be charged extra for that certain distance. This fee is very often especially in big and crowded cities where parking spots are even scared for a normal sedan. When moving with a big truck in this situation, this kind of fee is inevitable. To protect yourselves from this hidden fees, customers must assure the parking spot on that moving day by purchasing the parking permit for that moving day or figuring out a deal for this parking issue when signing the contract.

5. Elevator fees

The stair is a problem, but the elevator is another different problem. The elevator can only carry a certain amount of weight at a time, and the room is also limited. It is very difficult to transport a bulky item by elevator, and the time consuming is also one of the matters. Therefore, moving companies usually charge customer one-time fee called elevator fee. It is similar to long distance fee, and it can be resolve if customers have agreement with building management in order to reserve exclusively on that day for the move.

6. Moving cancellation fees

Not only moving services, the cancellation fee is a need for all kind of service. Before the moving day, moving manager has to arrange labors, equipment, and maintenance to make sure the move is going the way it has to be. Thus, whenever a customer cancels the plan in the last minute, the company that is supposed to move him/her on that day will lose that portion of the money as well as the opportunity from another move. Customers have to pay something for their cancellation, and they are certainly not paying in full; it depends on the cancellation policy which should be mentioned in moving contracts. This is also where most moving companies use for charging an extra fee. The common rules are notification more than one week from the actual moving day (all the fee are usually waived), notification within one week from the actual moving day (a fixed amount of money will be charged), and notification within three days (a percentage of the total move could be charged). Therefore, customers might need to ask about cancellation fees and have it written or typed in the contract also.

7. Travel and Extra stops charges

Moving companies usually charge customers for any planned or unplanned drop-off or pick-ups on the route or different route. What customers need to know is the price for each activity above. We don’t want to do anything that is not mentioned in the contract because moving companies can use that to get more money. Also, traveling fee should always be talking about in the moving contract. Moving company usually charge a flat rate for the in-town move, by miles for the out-of-town move, and by travel time.

Moving contract is very important, and customers are suggested to read it over carefully before signing so that they can avoid unusual fees which should not be there or should be notified. Most contracts are in fine printed, and we can’t capture all the points right away, so for our good, we have to request a copy of the contract sent via to our email or physical mail. From there, both sides can come up with the final contract which guarantees both sides’ benefits and responsibilities.

Moving companies are practicing two options of paying. Customers can either pay by the hour or by flat rate (does not matter how much time, just have it done!). Hourly rate is often used for in-town small and average move, which they can accurately estimate the hours needed to complete. Moreover, the hourly rate is an economical choice for customers’ budget, but it also has some bad sides. Moving companies can rely on the hourly rate to extend the total hour. The movers may not want to work full effort because the longer they work the more money they have; thus, shirking, wandering, stagnating movers are the sights. Crew leaders or companies’ office must be notified as soon as this situation continuing happening. Flat rate the best of option for long distance or big move. With this option, customers can sit back and relax because the job will be done in this way or another way. However, the price of the flat rate is usually high because the moving companies have to take into account some unexpected expenses during the move. Whenever everything article in the moving contract is clear and appropriate, customers can enjoy the worry-free ride.